


Flying the Friendly Skies

by pastandfuturequeen



Series: 15 Days of FinnPoe [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: 15 Days of FinnPoe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-02-10 21:09:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12920298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastandfuturequeen/pseuds/pastandfuturequeen
Summary: Finn shoots him a daring look. “I thought you were the best pilot in the Resistance,” he says. “Can’t handle a little turbulence,Commander?”A grin slides over Poe’s face, eyes alight with the sudden challenge. “Alright flyboy,” he says, gesturing back to the controls. “Show me the best you’ve got.”Or, alternatively - Poe teaches Finn how to fly. It goes differently than how he expected.15 Days of FinnPoe: Day 4





	Flying the Friendly Skies

**Author's Note:**

> _On the fourth day of FinnPoe, my true love gave to me . . . four flying pilots!_
> 
> [Also Posted on Tumblr]

The hangar hums with activity, pilots and gunners checking on their ships, loading up cargo, and tweaking with specifications. It’s as peaceful as the hangar ever is, leaving little stress for the pilots in the air. Finn and Poe sit inside the cockpit, a bead of sweat on Finn’s brow.

“Alright, so the clutch here is what guides the ship’s direction. You gotta be steady with it, otherwise you’re going to hurt the engine with a sharp jerk,” Poe says, gesturing to a lever in front of Finn. His eyes are alight, his words and movement decisive and with the joy of someone who loves being in their element. The sight is both soothing like a summer wind and relentless as a hurricane, sweeping Finn up off his feet and carrying him away until his head spins and words are leaking out of his ears. Finn nods for what feels like the fiftieth time in the past hour.

Poe opens his mouth again to continue but pauses when he catches the look on Finn’s face. Their eyes meet, and Poe shoots Finn an apologetic look. “I’ve been babbling, haven’t I?”

Finn breathes out a sigh. “Poe,” he begins. “I love you. I love how much you love flying, and I love the fact that you’re teaching me, too,” Finn says. “But I’m not going to be able to fly while we’re still on the ground.”

Poe sighs. “Alright, fair enough.” He quickly buckles into his seat, waiting for Finn to do the same.

Finn grins at him and sets to work. The helmet Poe gave him is a tad too big for his head, but his vision is clear and it served its purpose until Finn could get one that fit him better. 

“Remember to unlock the -”

“-Yes, Poe,” Finn replies, flipping the switch that unlocks the wheels from their parked position.

“And also the engine-”

“-Already on it,” Finn says, starting up the x-wing.

“And Finn?”

Finn turns to Poe, unable to keep the exasperation from his voice. “ _Yes?_ ”

Poe shoots him a playful grin. “I love you.”

Finn’s lips purse, fighting off the edge of a smile and losing. Then in the next moment they’re in the air, rising quickly, far too quickly - 

“Finn!” Poe says in warning, clutching his seat.

Finn’s grin is manic as he dives straight up towards the sky, climbing higher and higher and gathering speed. After he’s satisfied with their height, Finn levels the x-wing out until they’re parallel with the ground, flying up and away from the base. The x-wing cruises smoothly through the sky, through the wind and clouds.

Poe breathes out a sigh of relief. “Alright, that was great. A bit fast, but great for your first time,” he says. “Now let’s just go a bit steady before-”

But Finn pushes forward, gathering speed away from the base until they’re zooming through the sky, faster than a blur. Poe clutches at his seat again, a manic look on his face. Finn catches the look out of the corner of his eye and laughs, then with a quick move of the controls the x-wing dives towards the ground, twirling around in a barrel roll. Finn yells out a laugh, his face alight. Poe shoots him a look of panic.

Finn levels the x-wing again, his face flushed. “Now I see why you love flying so much, Poe!” he says, laughing.

At the sight of Finn’s joy, Poe can’t fight off the grin that overcomes his face. He lets out a sigh. “Alright buddy. Just warn me next time you’re gonna do something like that, okay?” he says.

Finn shoots him a daring look. “I thought you were the best pilot in the Resistance,” he says. “Can’t handle a little turbulence, _Commander?_ ”

A grin slides over Poe’s face, eyes alight with the sudden challenge. “Alright flyboy,” he says, gesturing back to the controls. “Show me the best you’ve got.”

Finn’s manic grin is the last thing Poe processes before they’re zooming forward again, the speed pressing them back firmly against the seats. Poe whoops as the x-wing flies forward, diving up before barreling down in a tailspin and doing a complete loop through the air. He’s laughing, Finn’s laughing, their faces are flushed with the exhilaration of flying. 

Static crackles in Finn’s headset. “Hey Big Deal, what kind of foolishness are you and Poe doing up here?” Jess’ friendly voice greets.

“Hey Jess!” Poe says, the sound heading to his headset too. “Welcome back from the mission! I’m teaching Finn how to fly,” he says.

“You call that flying?” Kare’s voice cracks through the comm link. Finn can practically hear the smirk on her face. “I expect a little bit better than that.” In the distance, Finn and Poe spot Jess and Kare’s respective x-wings, loaded with the cargo from their last mission. They’re several clicks closer to the base than Poe and Finn, no more than coin sized figures in the distance.

Snap’s voice is teasing. “How about you show off those new flying skills by beating us back to the base?” 

Poe rises to the challenge. “Whoever loses ends up on grease duty,” he says.

Jess groans from the other end. Polishing the grease so that it doesn’t get into the engine’s cooling fluids is her least favourite task. Whoever ends up on grease duty always reeks of the stench for days at a time. “Alright,” she says. “Whoever loses ends up on grease duty for the next two months.” She doesn’t mean it seriously. With their lead, there’s no plausible way for Finn and Poe to meet there in time.

Finn rises to the challenge. “You’re on.”

Finn turns to Poe. “You ready?” Finn says, face determined.

Poe shoots him a manic grin. “Whenever you are.”

The x-wing shoots forward, barrelling towards the base and picking up speed with each approaching second. Poe grabs tight hold of his seat, both of their bodies shoved back into their seats as they dive forward, the x-wing a blur in the wind. They’re only a couple miles away now, close enough to the other three that they can see their ships in the distance approaching the base. The others approach the base at the required speed for a safe landing. Finn and Poe continue to dive forward, not slowing down for even a moment. They get closer to the base. Kare’s voice is panicked through the comm link. “You’re both going to crash!”

“But Finn and Poe are yelling, paying her no mind. The x-wing continues it’s approach, fast, far too fast, until they’re practically on top of the base. Then they dive downward towards the base, approaching rapidly. Wind rushes past Finn and Poe’s ears, drowning out the voices of the other three pilots on their respective headsets. On the ground, Resistance members look up at the diving x-wing and clamor out of the way, yelling amongst themselves.

At the last moment Finn pulls the control towards himself, the nose of the x-wing swinging up sharply until they settle on the ground, the landing rough and jostling. At last the ship settles and Finn turns the x-wing off, limbs shaking slightly from the pressure of having flown at such fast speeds.

Finn turns to Poe, face flushed and breathing hard. “We won!” he declares. Poe’s curls lie against his forehead in complete disarray. Poe’s breathing hard, too, a wild grin on his face, but he says nothing. Finn’s lips twitch up in mirth. “What, I don’t get a kiss as a reward?”

Poe throws his head back in a laugh.

**Author's Note:**

> Y'all, I don't know anything about flying. All of my info is gathered from the very credible and renowned piloting school of Google. (In all seriousness though, if any of the terms I used don't actually work please tell me, I don't know stuff). This is a relatively short fic out of the 15, but I'm definitely fond of it since it was inspired from the image we got of Finn in the yellow flightsuit flying his own x-wing. I'm so excited to see Finn fly, yall!
> 
> For those of y'all who aren't already aware, I'm doing a thing called 15 Days of FinnPoe in anticipation of TLJ release on December 15th. Basically, each day starting on December 1st I'll be releasing one fic, each day with a particular theme inspired by the iconic 12 Days of Christmas song - expanded, edited, and with a little bit of a star wars twist of course.
> 
> [Here's the 15 Days of FinnPoe post on tumblr for greater detail.](https://pastandfuturequeen.tumblr.com/post/167847350815/banner-created-by-the-wonderful-forestpenguin)
> 
> As always, thanks for reading, and feel free to leave kudos, comments, and criticism below!


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